Zero Hour by Leon Davidson
Text Publishing, 2010. ISBN 9781921656071.
Highly recommended. Subtitled The ANZACS on the Western Front,
this non
fiction story of
how our troops fared along the infamous Western Front from 1916 to 1918
is riveting reading. Whether it be used in a history classroom or read
for interest, it will hold the attention of even the most indifferent
of readers. After being evacuated from Gallipoli, the NZ and Australian
troops were then sent to the Western Front, that line of trenches
stretching from the top of Belgium, down past Verdun in Central France.
In its four years of fighting, the Western Front claimed the lives of
some 3 million soldiers, leaving 11 million wounded. The statistics are
incomprehensible, but Davidson's lucid writing makes the reader feel
much closer to the facts than any history text read before.
I was enthralled with his other books, Scarecrow Army, the
story of
ANZACS at Gallipoli, as well as Red Haze, the story of the
Vietnam War,
both books winning awards in NZ and Australia, and these two books
opened my eyes to many stories of the political background of the wars,
not widely known. Each of these books gave a personal account of the
war, littered with facts, statistics and maps, personal accounts and
lists of the dead, all combining to make the story accessible in a way
not usually seen.
Zero Hour continues his marvelous writing, as we hear of the men
at the
front, suffering foot rot as they stand in mud all day and night in the
trenches, or the NZ soldiers suffering STD's because the powers that be
hesitated in giving out condoms, or the execution of soldiers for ill
discipline or desertion. Each of the stories he relates is in the
context of their involvement on the Western Front, making it immediate
and chilling. I was mesmerized with tales of the men on leave in
London, the levels of punishment for misdemeanors in the army, and the
lists of the dead, wounded and executed at the end of each chapter. The
informal style of writing, augmented with accounts from diaries and
letters makes this a book to read and reread, and wonder again at the
absolute stupidity of war.
Fran Knight